bread

I may have mentioned that I've decided to make my own bread this year. Last week I made my starter and watched and waited and stirred and sniffed and watched and waited some more and all the while worried that it wasn't working. The recipe I'm working from says that the starter should double in size (mine didn't which I attributed to the low temperature in our place due to our plan to conserve heat by lowering the thermostat) but I did get foam and a pleasant sour but still fresh scent and it didn't turn pink, orange or another strange colour so I decided to give it a try and make my first batch of bread today (and by today I mean Saturday)

It's been years since I last baked bread and I'd forgotten a few things. My first attempt at activating the yeast failed, my water wasn't warm enough. The second was warmer and I breathed a huge sigh of relief as the mix started to foam up nicely. We went for groceries yesterday which meant that I was able to stock up on whole grain whole wheat flour so not only did I make my first batch of bread in about ten years but I made my first ever batch of whole grain wheat bread. It took most of the day to make what with the mixing, kneading rising, punching down and shaping and rising and baking and cooling down. We started at 8 and the scent was making mouths water in a completely unflattering drool down the chin kind of way at 1:30.

I made a few sandwiches for my lunch with my bread and I have to say that I'm considering a mid evening sandwich even though I'm still full from dinner. I'm already looking forward to next week when I get to do it all over again.